By Theresa Harrington
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013 at 4:09 pm in Education.

Cindy Walker voices concerns about planned YVHS field project.

The Mt. Diablo school board will hold its first meeting of the 2013-14 school year at 7:30 p.m. in the district office at 1936 Carlotta Drive in Concord. The board has decided to meet on Wednesdays, instead of Mondays, from now on. (This is the same day that the Contra Costa County Board of Education meets, as well as the same day the West Contra Costa County Board of Education meets.)

2.0 Announcements
2.1 In closed session, the Board will consider the items listed on the closed session agenda. Info

3.0 Public Comment
3.1 The public may address the Board concerning items that are scheduled for discussion during closed session only. These presentations are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers or the three minute limit may be shortened. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

8.1 (Item #1) Items listed under Consent Agenda are considered routine and will be approved/adopted by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items; however, any item may be removed from the consent agenda upon the request of any member of the Board and acted upon separately. Action

8.2 (Item #2) Recommended Action for Certificated Personnel Action

8.3 (Item #3) Request to increase and decrease Full Time Equivalent (FTE) for the 2013-2014 school year Action

10.0 Public Comment
10.1 The public may address the Board regarding any item within the jurisdiction of the Board of Education of the Mt. Diablo Unified School District that is not on this agenda. These presentation are limited to three minutes each, or a total of thirty minutes for all speakers, or the three minute limit may be shortened. If there are multiple speakers on any one subject, the public comment period may be moved to the end of the meeting. Speakers are not allowed to yield their time. Info

11.0 Communications
11.1 District Organizations – At regular Board meetings, a single spokesperson of each recognized district organization may make a brief presentation following the Consent Agenda. Items are limited to those which are informational. Info

13.20 Multi-Disciplinary Team for Equity and Disproportionality Action

13.21 Meeting Extension Action

14.0 Future Agenda Items

15.0 Board Member Reports
15.1 Board reports Info

16.0 Closed Session
16.1 Items not completed during the first Closed Session will be carried over to this closed session. Action

17.0 Adjournment
17.1 Adjourn Meeting Info”

Although Trustee Brian Lawrence has repeatedly asked that the names of candidates be made public before board meetings, so the public can comment on the appointments before they are made, no names appear on the agenda reports. The district typically doesn’t name the candidates until the item comes up for a vote, when the name is announced by Julie Braun-Martin. This gives the public no opportunity to comment, since the public is left in the dark until the last minute.

Do you think the district and board should list the names of those to be appointed on staff reports or attach an addendum to the agenda the day of the meeting listing the names, so the public could have the opportunity to comment before the board votes?

LIVE BLOG OF MEETING:

Trustee Lynne Dennler is absent.

Hansen reported out of closed session that board discussed negotiations with an unrepresented employee and will continue those discussions after the meeting (regarding superintendent).

@Galen#51 It is unclear if Sue Brothers “agreed” to it but I am pretty sure she was notified of the change last spring. Whether she advised staff or not is another question. According to the FCMAT report of 9-4-12, it is to be a joint decision of transportation and the site. This new scheme apparently was dreamed up by — you guessed it — Greg Rolen and Angie Goakey. And where are they now ??? Here is an excerpt from he FCMAT report: “The district could achieve more efficient bus routing and scheduling by coordinating school bell times with input from the Transportation Department. The department had much greater input into school bell times in years past, however, in the past two years, the schools have had broad authority to change their bell times without that input. This has resulted in bell times that are similar throughout the district. With a little more separation of school start and end times, one bus may be able to provide service to two different groups, improving efficiency and cost effectiveness. Because most schools begin within 10 minutes of 8 a.m., the Transportation Department cannot perform more than one service run in the morning. However, if approximately half the schools began at 7:45 a.m., and the other half at 8:30 a.m., the Transportation Department could significantly reduce the overall number of buses and drivers. The district should reinstitute a meeting with the Transportation Department and site administrators each spring to set bell times for the subsequent school year that are sensitive to maximizing transportation efficiency while balancing academic needs.”

I received a call from YVHS parent and former MDUSD Trustee Sherry Whitmarsh regarding this thread. She said she wasn’t at the last board meeting because she was on vacation. She said most field project supporters who attended didn’t speak because they didn’t want to be repetitive and they were showing their support through their presence. She said the football schedule was set far in advance the the boosters are looking into using portable lights so they won’t have to take kids out of classes early. The school schedule came from the district, she said.
“We were told it was because of busing,” she explained.
She said the EIR took longer than expected, but the school is not “counting its chickens before they’re hatched.”
Another benefit of night games, she added, is that parents who work will be able to see their children competing.

Dr J. You certainly have access to a lot of information. Not sure why you don’t try to become a board member, or at the very least come out from behind the Dr J and let readers know how it is you have access to so much information?

Please note that I have been advised by our web team to recommend that commenters “clear your cache” after commenting on our blogs. Apparently, some email addresses have somehow inadvertently shown up in the “Leave a Comment” field after the fact. The company is working to rectify the problem.

dr j: YVHS is not charging for locks or pe clothes. Pe t shirts and shorts will be available for purchase but they are optional. Students can dress out in appropriate pe clothes from home. You are reading outdated handbooks.

@Mika#61 — I pulled the quotes off of the YVHS website YESTERDAY and noted that it had been updated with Stephen Brady’s name as principal. I haven’t checked it tonight. I am not reading “outdated” handbooks. I even quoted about a week ago that students “should bring” to orientation $25 to purchase PE clothes. The YVHS website I quoted in my post #50 should have been changed 8 months ago ! Nevertheless, I am glad they are doing the right thing.